


Mirrored

by Kitten_Rebel



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-17 00:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3507590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitten_Rebel/pseuds/Kitten_Rebel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Police detective didn't take in account that his computer specialist might have a very good looking best friend who was on the other side of law. The challenges are thrown back and forth, and they are ready to resort to anything to (out)do each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirrored

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oyakoro (Iunch)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iunch/gifts).



> Thank you for clicking on this Mello/Light fanfiction, make yourself at home, and enjoy your stay! I wrote it for my amazing and talented friend, machi-pan, thank you squirrel for being there for me! Her fanfic with this pairing, "Pity you're pretty" is a must read, for all Mello/Light suckers out there! You can find it on her fanfiction dot net profile!
> 
> I had so much fun with writing this piece, but I feel the need to warn you that English isn't my first language, so it's possible that some mistakes escaped me, as I had no beta, so please point them out to me, so I can correct them. I hope you'll like this, and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

#### Part I

The streets of Los Angeles were as busy as usual, not that different from those in Japan. However, the noise bothered the young man in suit, who was waiting for green light, more than it ever had before. His body was weary, he consciously felt every step he made. It was as if his shoes were made of stone, too heavy and weighting down feet.

His biological clock desperately needed to be reset. The sleep hadn't been coming to him at all that night, which was expected as he only got here less than twenty four hours ago. Japan was seventeen hours ahead of Los Angeles, which most surely didn't go unnoticed by the man in question.

Light Yagami, as was his name, was currently headed to Loyola Law School, where he was supposed to hold a presentation about Civil Justice the following week. He was in the United States mainly because of mandatory annual meetings and seminars with his American coworkers, but along the way he was invited by the aforementioned University when they heard he would be in California, so he was supposed to improvise on that one, and that didn't make him happy at all.

Already, after he saw the topic, he had an outline of the presentation in his head and after he consulted the faculty via emails, it seemed more definite. They advised Light to meet their trusted computer specialist who was supposed to set up the presentation, but would also help with anything else computer-related, and who would finish it, based on the outline Light was to give him, while Light goes from meeting to meeting representing the Japanese Police Force, along with his fellow colleagues.

When the traffic light finally turned green, he crossed the street, approaching the prominent yellow building, and seeing the staircase that led to what seemed entrance, he decided that was right way to go. Upon entering, he was met with a pleasant member of staff. She was a young woman, slim and about his height, which surprised him a bit, he was used to shorter women. He gave her a charming smile and introduced himself, showing his badge.

"My name is Light Yagami, a member of Japanese Police Force. I'm looking for Mr. Jeevas."

She obviously recognized the name, and nodded, tucking the strand of caramel colored hair behind her ear.

"A pleasure to meet you, sir. He's on the second floor, when you turn right, the third-," she started explaining, talking quite fast, but interrupted herself with stifled, polite laugh she hid behind her hand and suggested, "Perhaps it'd be easier if I showed you way, mister Yagami."

"Yes, I think so too." Light effortlessly agreed, idly pondering on the surroundings. The halls were mostly empty, probably because the lectures were in progress, save for the two separate groups of students who watched their interaction, visibly confused about the badge that he now put in the inner pocket of his jacket again.

"Follow me."

He had indeed. He lazily engaged her in conversation about weather, which was too warm for his definition of late November, but upon reaching the second floor, they fell into silence once more. They turned into hallway on the right, a very narrow one, obviously for the staff and she stopped.

"The last room on your left is Mr. Jeevas'."

"Thank you very much."

"No problem, I wish you pleasant stay here!" She chirped, leaning her head to side and smiled brightly, before turning on her heels when he nodded to her, returning smile and he turned to approach the room, as well as hide a yawn he could no longer keep at bay.

After Light knocked on the door, a silence stretched for a few seconds, the only sounds that could be heard being the beep and a soft exhale, before a clear, silvery, "Enter".

He turned the knob, and slowly entered the small room, letting his eyes wander, noticing a corner sofa and a coffee table on which sat a laptop, and as they got to the front of the room he noticed a desk with a computer, and a man who sat in front of it.

Light nodded, and closed the door behind him, before going further into the room. That's when a strong smell of cigarettes hit him and he realized that the man held one in his hand. Actually, now when he paid close attention, he noticed that the guy was merely a boy, around eighteen to nineteen years old, looking more like a student himself than computer technician. The light from the window behind him made his hair shimmer reddish brown. Light lowered his gaze and found that the teenager was looking at him as well, chin tipped, his eyes piercing green, contrasting the dark eyelashes that adorned them. The look was very arrogant and calculating, and Light did not like it.

Clearly, the guy couldn't be Jeevas.

"I'm sorry, I'm looking for mister Mail Jeevas, and I was told-" he started, only to rudely be interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, I can assure you that's me. I mean, surely you expected somebody older, but hey, I will do the job. Name's Matt, I insist. Please sit." Jeevas gestured, grinning slightly, as he put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the desk.

The Japanese could do little, but comply, silently doubting Jeevas' credibility. He was incredibly unprofessional, and seemed way too playful, making Light consider doing everything by himself.

"So, you're here for your presentation? Plug the USB in the laptop, I'll pick the documents up and we'll see what you got there."

He did, and five minutes later the outline sat on the teenager's computer as he frowned at it.

"Huh, I guess I can work with it. And, err, thanks for all the references, but I could have found them myself."

That confused Light, for did that mean Mail actually always wrote the whole presentations himself? Were other presenters that lazy? Or maybe he didn't quite catch what Mail was implying, he felt too slow today and fought an urge to rub his eyes.

"I'm sure you could, but no offense, but I couldn't have let you do all the work."

"Aw, you are too nice, sir, but if you still doubt my skills, as I'm sure you do, I can give you some of my earlier works to see for yourself," he suggested, and Light noticed his pride was hurt because he didn't let him do all of the work, and Light saw how much of a child he was, a child that was quick to catch on, but still a mere child.

"No need, however, I do have to ask, how long have you been working here? No offense intended, but you look very young,"

"For past six months, and I don't want to brag, but I'm one of the most useful employees they've had so far," he grinned, before continuing, "I'll be turning twenty in three months, so I'm not all that young..." He trailed off and in the silence that followed, only footsteps could be heard just outside the room, loud and heavy, yet not fast at all. Just as thumping in Light's head.

"Shit." Jeevas said lowly, under his breath, and that was all the warning he got before the door was opened.

The blond man, also somewhere around late teens and early twenties, Light could not tell, leaned on the doorframe, sparing a fleeting glance to the client sitting with his legs crossed on the corner sofa, before turning to Jeevas. Light was surprised to find that this stranger was clad in leather from head to toe. His haircut was not a very usual for a man either, a chin length hair, a bit messy, and fringe even messier. He was lean, not very tall and, god, he actually looked like a damn hooker. So very strange.

"Mels," Jeevas complained, his tone exasperated, as he turned to face the newcomer, "we talked about this. You know. That thing about you not coming in my office during the appointments. Yeah? Remember?"

"Something along the lines, yes." 'Mels' grinned, his voice smooth, and not a tiny bit feminine, as his looks might have suggested, and approached the desk, before opening the first drawer and retrieving something wrapped in foil. "By all means, continue the meeting, but I'm taking the laptop."

"Mello." The blond raised his eyebrows at his friend, who rolled his eyes to the sky before setting them on him. "We are using it, as you can see. C'mon, it can be done later, right?"

"Mm, no. Business related. Emergency, they said." He said, seemingly not at all paying attention to anything apart of unwrapping the chocolate he took and finally taking a bite. Jeevas sighed and gestured to Light.

"Sir, please do leave the laptop for Mello to use and come here, we can take a look at your outline together."

Alright, what was going on here, Light definitely didn't know. And he just wanted to be out of here, because this meeting has become unbearable and uncomfortable and exhausting. So he complied, and promised to himself that he will talk to this Jeevas about his inefficiency and lack of professionalism. He safely unplugged the USB and looked up at the teenager.

"Should I…" he trailed off, gesturing at the laptop, wondering whether to turn it off, or log out, or anything before leaving it there.

"Nah, it's good, c'mon." And so he stood up and approached the desk, merely turning when he heard a thump, signalizing the Mello guy landed onto the couch, only to see him get himself comfortable, lying down and the laptop sitting on his stomach as he munched on the chocolate.

Jeevas rolled his eyes once again and got back to providing explanation on how he was planning to do his job, quite a detailed one at that. Yes, the kid actually knew what he was doing. Light was listening intently, visualizing things Jeevas said and popped in an advice or two, which were, in fact, subtly dismissed, but all Light did was clench his teeth. After a few minutes, he straightened himself, his back hurting from bending over to see the screen and what was Matt pointing at. Upon doing so, his eyes fell on the intruder, who now had the laptop sat on table and was playing with foil of the already eaten chocolate.

The movement attracted Mello's attention and he looked up, only for their eyes to meet. Man, his eyes were so blue, cold blue, very chilling, and now he could see that Matt and Mello were quite close, as Mello was giving him the very same look Matt did, although the arrogance and threat displayed through it suited the blond much better than Jeevas. Those eyes were silently challenging him, a spark of playfulness, of passion, resurfacing through the cold blue.

If anything, Light prided himself in being the best judge of character. And Mello…He certainly was something else entirely, and that pissed Light off. When he looked back down to the technician, it seemed they were finished for today.

"Yeah, so, I guess that's it. Mello, please try not to scare off my clients, thanks. I'll need your phone number, sir, and I'll call you in three days max to come to see how is this baby coming along, and once again when it's completely finished for you to have it." Matt concluded, obviously noting the tension that formed between the two, turning on his chair, grinning and giving a pen to Light. And, yes, definitely close friends, judging by the interaction. Although, he did take offence when it was implied Mello could scare him off. He glanced to Mello, who snorted and mumbled something akin to "his own fault if he runs away."

"Where am I to write?" He asked, as Matt didn't give him any piece of paper, completely ignoring the unimportant hooker-like thing on the couch.

"Uh, let me see," he scratched the back of his head as he looked through the mess on the desk and pulled out few papers attached, quite formally looking, implying they might be important. He still paid no attention to this and thrust them in Light's hands (oh yes, some sort of guarantee form), so he took them and wrote neatly his name and under it the number he used during his stays in the States.

"Alright, then. Thank you for your assistance." Light nodded, reaching his hand out for a handshake, a not so usual gesture for him, but Jeevas complied, and gave him his business card afterwards.

"Thank you for coming here. And sorry about Mels, I hope his visit hadn't bothered you too much."

"No, no problems there." Light nodded, ready to go, but the blond remark's stopped him.

"You have a quite nice accent for a Japanese. How come?" Jeevas hissed 'Mels', and Light looked at him, and wow, Light was fascinated by the most intense eyes, so sharp, so intelligent.

"Practice, I'd say. Although, I have to note that your manners are awful. " That response only made Mello chuckle.

"Think so? Too bad, you'd be surprised," what was that supposed to mean? A cocked eyebrow, a challenge in ice cold eyes.

"A pity. Mister Jeevas-"

"-Matt,"

"Matt, it was a pleasure. Until our next meeting." With those words, Light exited the office and found himself in the hallway familiar to him. His headache returned, and all he wanted was to rest for another few hours before leaving for the meeting with others.

  


#### Part II

"Mello, let me tell you something. You're a dick." Matt sat down on his chair and lit up a cigarette. Mello sprawled himself on the couch, sighing contently.

"And what a dick, at that." He laughed in response, unusually cheerful.

"…There was no business emergency, was there?" The younger of the two shook his head, closing his eyes and breathing out a puff of smoke.

"Oh, there it is! Matt's astonishing deduction skill!" Sarcasm, huh. Yes, he was certainly so oddly happy.

"You know my business schedule better than I do myself. You knew the Yagami guy was visiting, didn't you," it was a rhetorical question, only purpose to imitate the thought process Matt had when he first heard Mello's footsteps approach the office.

"You hoped to use him." There it was, the conclusion he came to, voiced. "How? Mels, what are you up to?" Mello straightened, and sat properly, growing serious.

"All right, listen up. Ross is planning to deal with Miller and Irius. The traitors. They've been in contact with some gang from Japan, and recently-"

"There were a few attempts at getting into your laptop," Matt cut in, frowning, as pieces fell in their place. Yes, two weeks ago he helped Mello to secure it again, when he realized somebody was trying to hack it from Japanese IP address. That was a laptop he bought a month ago, and Mello used at home. Thanks to Mello's nature of job, they had to renew their technology once a month, sometimes even more often, so it could be untraceable. For now, it sure as hell was working, because nobody even suspected Mello was a part of fucking Mafia.

"Exactly. Little fuckers had nothing to do with us before this, so now they're probably thinking we don't even know who are they, but thanks to you we've learned a whole lot of things. So, what better way for punching back than getting them arrested?" Mello sneered and reached out his hand, clearly wanting his friend to throw him another chocolate. Matt opened the drawer took it out and tossed it, an action all too familiar to him, before inquiring.

"And you saw the professor wanted the most talented Japanese police detective to visit the Law School in which I happened to work. Ah, what a beautiful coincidence." Matt mockingly sighed, glancing at Mello's playful expression.

"Yeah, I might have influenced that decision a bit, leaving hints here and there."

"Using her students." Matt concluded. Students around here thought Mello as one of them, because he tended to appear between lectures, looking as if he attended one himself, and socialize with them. Of course, he said he took all the courses they didn't, a pity they couldn't go together. Neither his real name was known to them. They knew nothing, yet considered him a friend, an acquaintance.

Actually, nobody knew anything about Mello, save for Matt. They grew up together in an orphanage and when they got out, Mello decided he wanted all of his records erased, and he no longer existed in the eyes of law. It was most definitely hard to do just that, but with Matt's help and the fact they met the right people, they managed. On the contrary, Mail decided that it was too much of effort not existing legally, so he just kept on helping Mello and in his free time work as a computer technician.

"So, why did you think it'd be a good idea that you appear in front of a fucking detective? Asking him about his accent, no less," he snickered.

"I'm going to take Japanese lessons from him." Matt may have looked at him blankly, because Mello was rolling his eyes and taking a bite of the candy in his hand. "No shit, Matt, I thought you were well-versed in sarcasm. To meet him, of course."

"That's not a good idea."

"It's a pretty good idea. I'm launching the plan first thing tomorrow."

"Why would you have to meet him for that? Don't you have somebody to do it for you?" That was Mello diving in head first into sea of troubles. A typical.

"I researched Yagami. He's had some business with Nate River last year, and that shall tell you something about his intelligence. The plan here is to bust the Japanese, not us, and anybody meeting him who is not me would achieve just that. Yeah, I know, shut up, excluding you, but you're not getting fucking involved more than you already are." So, the computer expert had to close his mouth, that was readied to point out he was not incapable of this, but he had to admit that Mello's worry flattered him. Mello relaxed in his seat again and continued.

"I need to point out he's unusually pretty. Have you noticed? That vibe he gives, like, so graceful and, dunno, smooth? Man, let's just say pretty. I've hardly seen many of them in this line of work. More suited for a model, I guess."

"Didn't strike me as odd. Could've been because I have one already walking around in the apartment, though." He couldn't help but add, because really, Mello just used the adjectives that Matt would use when describing him, not Light.

"Nah, you can't get out of washing dishes tonight. Games won't run anywhere."

"And, what's the plan? You're going to woo him and manipulate him with your splendid ass? How cliché and unoriginal. I expected more from you, Mels."

"Ha-ha, fuck you. No, for now, I'll have Irius set the bomb in his hotel-"

"Which they'll find, like, immediately, because he is an idiot-"

"And evacuate the whole hotel. Then, I'll appear there. I mean, Irius has been staying there since a week ago, so he will be fleeing the hotel the moment he finishes with the bomb, without checking out. When police comes, they'll also talk to witnesses, and I'll be around, waiting for when they finish with Yagami to ambush him. Yeah, I'll try to avoid being in any camera's radius, I learned blind spots by heart, but with Yagami you never know, so can you, you know, do your thing and erase any evidence I might leave behind?" Ah. So that's where this was going.

"You know Yagami will notice you were not on any footages, nor that you stayed in hotel."

"No, don't worry about that, I've got that covered. He'll catch Irius, though. And since I got rid of all the traces he was ever connected to us, Yagami will find out only about Japanese gang, which apparently, wanted him dead." 'Don't worry about it', this fucker is leaving hints, knowing that Matt will understand, but not going to lower himself and confess directly. Just another subtle check, then.

"I guess you already sent Miller to Japan."

"Correct." Mello nodded and scrunched the foil of another eaten chocolate bar. In return, Matt also put out his cigarette, deciding this was a key point where there shouldn't be any dancing around the subject.

"Meaning, you are interested in Yagami personally, right? Getting rid of these sons of bitches is just a plus side."

"Oh?" Mello grinned, obviously letting Matt do all the talking.

"I mean, we are talking about Yagami Light, twenty three years old investigator, who worked with our acquaintance, and your enemy, Nate River. Oh, the horror, Mello must know who is this guy," Matt dead-panned. "I'm actually kind of bothered I hadn't noticed myself. Dude, I fucking overlooked that he worked with River, he could've literally been his spy and guess who wouldn't have noticed." And that's when Mello threw a foil ball at him, hitting him square on the nose.

"You. And this is the reason I want you to stay out of this, dumbass. You'd get yourself killed. But sure, I'm disappointed by the fact Nate is still alive and kicking. If Yagami's worth his attention, I bet he's worth mine, too." With that conclusion, he got up and stretched, before he approached Matt and put a hand on his shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, for the big show. In the meantime, keep a close eye on TV, as usual."

He exited, leaving Matt alone to ponder what the hell is going on inside his head. Because, man, whatever he's planning to do, he wasn't going to use traditional approach, that's for sure.

  


#### Part III

Mello leaned his shoulder on the tree and crossed his arms, watching people no more than twenty meters away from him, leaving hotel and animatedly commenting on the past happenings. Some of them seemed irritated, some breathless and scared, but mostly there were folks who were quite excited with the new development. One of them was a black haired man in a grey suit, most likely Japanese, as far as he could tell from this distance. Hopefully, a member of Japanese force.

The plan, up to this point, went flawlessly. Less than ten minutes after Irius reported to Rod that he planted the bomb, staff called the police, as expected. Security has been strengthened for members of foreign police were currently staying there, so he estimated they would find the bomb in less than fifteen minutes.

And, any moment now, Yagami was to get out of that building.

True enough, Mello was curious about the man. Very. Nate River had never just paired up with anyone, if he paired up with anybody at all. He was a private detective, one of the very best, who was half a year ago asked to investigate Mafia's doings. Unfortunately, he was the first one to ever suspect there was somebody who led Mafia from shadows, and was dead set on imprisoning him. He had been close to finding out who was the leader, even pinpointed their location, and arrested fourteen of Mello's subordinates, but he had escaped. Ever since, Nate was on his heels, so he did everything that was in his power to find more about this detective, and eliminate him, either strippingt him of his reputation, or having him killed, beggars don't choose.

He knew very little about Nate, though. Appeared as a detective only two years ago, he took only cases he felt like investigating, and they seemed very random, all over the world and very different one from another. But, what they had in common was that they were extremely difficult, yet he solved each of them. Which is, likely, why he was still lingering on the Mafia case. Moreover, sometimes, he paired up with other detectives, or sought the help from officials, like the police, once even from the military.

Light Yagami helped him once, too, with the chain of murders in Tokyo, last year in November. So did Naomi Misori, however, she retired from her position in FBI in May, to marry the man of her dreams. Somebody going by 'L', judging by conversation he managed to eavesdrop to, as well, with the case in Great Britain. Anthony Rester in India, but it turned out that his name was just an alias.

Out of all people, he only managed to trace Light.

And right now, he was exiting the hotel and approaching the black haired man in suit he noticed earlier. They were talking, the other man gesturing wildly, obviously still very excited. Another man joined them, this one had unusually massive hair, in suit as well. He was much calmer and motioned them to go. Light was looking around the entire time, but at that time, his eyes landed on Mello. He said something to his colleagues and they left when he started walking in Mello's direction.

He walked so confidently and gracefully, and if that's coming from Mello, take it very seriously. The blond actually couldn't take his eyes off the man, and if he had to pinpoint a moment when his new idea was born, that would be this one.

"I am surprised to see you here, Mr. Mello," Light greeted, smiling politely, and Mello couldn't help to offer a smirk of his own. Light's accent was noticeable, but his tongue rolled quite well around the sound 'l' in his name.

"So am I, by this whole situation. I planned to check in today, but I didn't have in account that a bomb was to go off today. Pleasant surprise," Mello chuckled, before adding, "It's just Mello, by the way."

"Call me Light, then. I take it you're not around here?" He asked and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Nah, I'm here just to visit Matt, I'll be leaving in two weeks, back for New York," the blond lied smoothly.

"Is that so?" Light wondered in a tone that could imply he didn't believe Mello, although he wasn't sure whether that was the case. "I think the hotel will be running normally again in two hours, or so. Until then, we were asked to leave, so why don't you join me for a walk?" Oh, he hadn't expected that.

"Sure," Light beckoned for him to move, and so he straightened, and started walking shoulder to shoulder with him. "What about you? You here just for a class presentation?"

"That and a bunch of meetings. Business, not pleasure, I'm afraid," he said and put a hand in the pocket of his trousers. "Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me change," a sigh followed.

"Interrupted meeting?"

"Right. Unfortunately enough, we are going to meet again tomorrow." He sighed and looked straight into Mello's eyes. Light's gaze was so intense, so sharp, it almost made him shiver under it, which, in turn, made him want to face the challenge head on.

"You are? I assumed..." There he paused, as if he was thinking, but in truth, he already had his script. "Alright, I'm going to be blunt. Does this," he gestured towards hotel, behind them, "have anything to do with you? I mean you, as in, Japanese police?" Light looked straight ahead again.

"It's possible. I, personally, believe it does." He shrugged it off, to stress that's a fact that is to be taken lightly. "I know nothing more than you do, until officials make a statement."

"Huh, well, shit." Light and his colleagues will probably have to leave, once it is confirmed that they were attacked. The silence between them stretched, only the sounds of traffic and blond's boots against the pavement filling it.

"What about you, though? Who are you, exactly?" Once again, their eyes met, and Mello smirked, leaning towards Light, before stopping walking all together.

"Oh, there's not much about me. I'm Mello, Matt's badass friend. Twenty years old. Bored out of his mind. And," he ran his fingers through hair, pausing to lick his lips, noting how Light's eyes followed the action, "hot as hell." He added and chuckled. Mello watched closely how the other man's eyes widened, before narrowing, obviously understanding every implication.

"Flirty too," Yagami concluded, and took a step closer to the blond, invading his personal space. Mello's smirk widened, as he felt the excitement rush through his veins, his heart picking up the pace.

"Too bad I like women better. I'm not gay." His voice was cold, but the sinister smile spread on his lips when Mello's face fell. But it was mere seconds before the blond was bursting in laughter. His laugh was loud and clear, surprisingly honest one. A hand was clutching his stomach and he glanced up to meet Light's unamused glare, and he started laughing even harder, before taking a deep breath as he calmed down and straightened.

"Gosh, eh- wait- man, sorry, just, I didn't expect it, and I didn't mean to insult you," Mello said and pushed some of his blond locks behind his ear. He assumed well, Light was quite far in the closet, playing his part of the perfect man- intelligent, mysterious, hard-working, and straight. Oh, well, he couldn't just push him out of it, but he could show him the fucking way. Because, damn, look at that body and that face and that wit, Mello was really down for having some fun with him. Oh, he was afraid this was how his feelings would develop and now he was fucked.

"It's fine, I get that sometimes," Light sighed, obviously offended, which most definitely wasn't helping Mello any, so he knew he had to get him in better mood in order to talk with him.

"So, as I was walking here from Matt's, I noticed there's a Cafe just down the street. Want something to drink with me, while we're waiting?" He asked good-naturedly, hoping the Japanese will see this as a peace treaty, and accept.

"Oh, it seems as your manners are not as awful as I initially thought. Sure, but I have to meet my colleagues in about forty five minutes," a smile stretched across beautiful face, and the younger man couldn't say if it's a mocking or an honest one, but his bet was on the former.

"You are too nice, good sir," he responded sarcastically, but he was feeling unusually cheerful, as he glanced to Light, who was looking ahead, still bearing that mock of a smile on his face, "but you are, in fact, wrong. I just have conscience, and feel bad about laughing at your sexual preference."

"Right, I take it back. You should get some manners, they are very useful. See, I have not once commented on your unusual fashion tastes," he gestured towards Mello's outfit, almost completely made from leather, and fully black.

"Coming from the mouth of person in a fucking tux."

"This is not a tuxedo."

"Whatever you say." Mello shrugged and let them enjoy the relative silence once more, before averting the topic, speaking of Los Angeles, and traffic, just your small talk in general. The rest of their time together was spent either bickering, engaging in conversations of current affairs, or exchanging opinions. For Mello, it was very pleasant, for he rarely talked with people like that; the conversation was simply flowing, because they were always on the same page, so there were no needs for additional explanations. Apart from Matt, nobody else made Mello feeling so satisfied with only a conversation, but, honestly, Light was something else entirely.

Once two men Mello saw earlier with Light, appeared, apparently named Matsuda and Aizawa, his stomach sank, knowing this was the end of their hour.

They had parted ways with a simple goodbye, but the blond hadn't missed the way Light's eyes slid to his lips when he said it.

I prefer women, my ass.

This was a closing to the second act, and, as he watched Light go, he took out his cellphone and dialed Matt. He had to prepare himself for the presentation, the final act.

  


#### Part IV

"Ya, fuck off, Mels. Yagami will be here, in like, ten minutes or so," Matt spoke, his jammed between his ear and shoulder as he plugged the projector in.

"And whose fault is that? You didn't have to go that far to go on a date with him. Oh, knock it off, how should I call it if not a date? Anyways, he'll be leaving for Japan first thing tomorrow morning, so hurry up. Nah, you gotta be here before him, if you want to play it off as 'I just hang out around my best friend a lot'. Five minutes, man, get on that baby of yours and come here," he stood up and hang up.

Impossible, Mello is impossible. He had a plan, and all, and to his credit, it was a good plan. But no, fuck the plan, better to fuck Light Yagami. God, he had to sort out his priorities.

One of the consequences of that plan was Yagami returning earlier to Japan, as his team decided to join in the investigation. Mello and Mafia knew nothing of the progress of the said investigation, however, Yagami was nice enough to call and ask the professor for an earlier date of his presentation, which she managed to get him. Now, Matt had to rush through it, as it was but three days since he last saw Mello's annoying interest. Lord, was he annoying. They had a conversation via email, to confirm the time, and he seemed polite and kind, but tell you what, something about that perfection ticked Matt off. As to why Mello was drawn to it, why he didn't know, but had the faint idea from what he told him after that date.

Mello most likely wanted to strip Light of all of his pretenses. To see him bare and defenseless. Sadistic fucker.

And Yagami was a challenge. A complex person. A maze of lies, pretenses, walls built to shield the real Yagami.

What kind of intelligent person lies underneath all of those make believes?

However, Matt could only hope that was only as deep as Mello's interests went.

But, hey, what could he do about it? His friend knew fully well what he was doing, and all Matt could do was make sure he didn't get himself in more trouble than he was already in. For now, though, the only thing was going to do about lights, was to make sure they were right intensity and in right direction, before he was to turn them off. No more five minutes after he hang up on him, Mello was bursting into the lecture theater in which was presentation supposed to take place in about half an hour.

"On time?"

"Sure you are, congrats, you're quick. Yagami's not here yet."

"Perfect. So, Matty, how's that project of yours going?" Mello asked, making himself comfortable on the desk in the first row, and ruffled his own hair, trying to get it as messy as possible. God forbid he didn't look effortlessly model-like for a change. The project he was speaking of was just another side job of taking care of a website to help them with their money situation.

"Oh, cool. Today a guy named Gevanni contacted me about the advertisements, so as it seems, the business is blooming," he concluded and sat next to Mello after everything was set. He sighed and put his forearm on the blond's shoulder, leaning onto it, sighing contently.

"I'm glad, but watch your ass, okay? Don't get carried away, you know the rule, no persona-"

"Can stay for longer than two months, I know, all right. I did some background check on the guy, Stephen Gevanni, and he's just your average manager. It's become a routine by now," he grinned, and tilted his head so it rested on his shoulder, not before he met Mello's eyes, and a silent 'thank you for concern' passed between them.

"You still always find a way to fuck up."

"I aim to please," Matt chuckled and stood up, to stretch himself, "I'm kind of tired and can't wait to finish with this," as the words left his mouth, a knock resounded in the room.

'There you go,' he mouthed to Mello, before loudly giving a permission for Yagami to enter, which he did. Just like the last time he had seen him, he was in a suit, a different one, though, and he looked professionally, in comparison to Matt, who was wearing his black and red striped shirt and old jeans tucked into boots. Only now he could understand why people often didn't take him seriously.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jeevas," Light's greeting was followed closely by a mumbled 'It's Matt', which got none attention whatsoever, as the detective continued, "You too, Mello. I feel as though I shouldn't be surprised you're here."

"Nah, I wouldn't miss you desperately persuading these poor students into pursuing a career in police for life," Mello grinned, his head tilting and eyes piercing, his moves as those of a cat. He was merciless in his games, the art of seduction coming to him naturally, and seeing him in action, Matt knew Light would be putty in his arms by tonight.

"I may not be native English speaker, but I clearly see you misused the word 'desperately', when you meant 'effortlessly'. Hold your tongue, you'll see for yourself later," Yagami put a halt on Mello's comeback that was sitting on his tongue, and turned to Matt, inquiring about specifics of the text he wrote for the presentation Matt made, a cue for Mello their conversation was over for the time being. The blond sat properly in the first row, and rested his face on his hands. If Light had known Mello didn't check in the hotel he was at before a bomb was found, he didn't show it. The Japanese Police Force switched the hotel, according to Mello's sources.

Fifteen minutes later and students began entering the lecture hall, at first one by one, but soon in groups, before the whole place was full and Matt turned the lights off and Light started talking. The redhead was sitting at the desk, behind where Yagami was standing, and pressing the 'next' button on his laptop whenever he was supposed to. From there, he could see how girls were looking at the nicely dressed policeman, occasionally whispering, but their eyes trained on him and soaking in his deep voice. His friend, though, whereas he was also eyeing him, had no look of admiration on his face, but a calculated one, of a man in thought. What would Matt give, if only to have a glance into blond's mind. No, actually, it could be a risk not worth taking, as the thoughts running around his mind were most likely R rated.

The presentation ran smoothly and finished quickly, many students staying behind to ask Light questions, and not a small amount of girls trying to interest him. A professor also approached him to thank him, before leaving only three people in the room. A bad choice of people, at that. There was one nerd behind the laptop, hating passionately the popular guy that was trying to get into hot chick's pants. Well, okay, that comparison didn't really work, as the chick (Mels would kill him for that one, that was for sure) was trying to get the popular guy in her bed, and the nerd was most certainly not jealous, as you might have thought, but really worried about his friend.

Matt knew what was about to happen, because the mood in the room didn't just go over his head, as much as he wished it did.

"So, what do you say, Mello? Do you think I made them interested?" Light questioned, approaching the desk where Mello was seated, and leaned his hip against it.

"Well, I can't speak for them, but honestly, you succeeded in making me interested," he purred and gracefully jumped over, so he was face to face with Light, and he ran his hand along the length of the older man's arm suggestively. Out of respect, Matt looked at the laptop before him, and, dear god, he needed a smoke right fucking now.

"In representing the justice?" The Japanese asked naively, making Matt roll his eyes, because yes, of course Mello was fucking confiding in him about his new career choices, right as he was feeling him up, sure, A++ deduction skills, officer Yagami! Also, the irony, a Mafia boss rethinking his life and deciding he'd like to join the guys that were attempting to arrest him until now. Of course, his friend's mood hadn't matched his, so he recognized this stupidity as flirting.

"Mhm, because it'd be only fair if I had that mouth on mine, really," he lowered his tone and holy shit, the ignored third wheel in the room had to look up, only to see Light smiling and putting his hands on Mello's hips ever so gently, while caressed Light's face, before burying his own hand into Light's hair and closing the distance between them completely. Their lips moved in sync, opening and closing evenly, tongues slipping out, and Light's hands moved to Mello's face in the intensity of the kiss, caressing his cheeks and bringing them even closer, not so gently, their bodies touching. Mello's hand gripped Light's locks in return, while his other hand slipped down to his waist and his hips pushed against Light's, in one smooth, controlling move. Light imitated the motion, only then slowing down the kiss and leaning away. And the look the blond opened his eyes and locked them with Light's, his breathing a tad heavy, oh god the tension was so thick, reminding Matt he wasn't really supposed to watch this exchange, so he rested his forehead on his knuckles, trying to look as exasperated as he was feeling before. Right now though, he couldn't deny he witnessed the hottest fucking kiss in the world, starring two handsome men, and fuck, a cigarette, he had to get out.

Luckily for him, the two have completely forgotten about his presence, and Mello snickered, so he looked up under his eyelashes.

"Quite enthusiastic performance for somebody who 'prefers women'."

"Fuck you," Light breathed out as he caressed Mello's hair.

"No, baby, it's gonna be the other way around," he replied and the hand that had been on Light's waist now experimentally grabbed his bottom.

"Come with me to the hotel, then," Light said, moving his lips to Mello's neck, and only then had Mello turned to Matt, who immediately lowered his gaze.

"Matty, sorry we got carried away a bit, but as you can see, I won't be staying with you tonight," he stated the obvious, and detached himself from Light's embrace.

"No shit, it's all right, have fun, Mels," he uttered as he stood up and shut his laptop, watching them leaving the room together, side to side, but with unusually big space between them. He left in hurry as soon as the laptop was in his bag, too. But he sure as hell wasn't feeling comfortable knowing that while he would be playing Grand Theft Auto at home, Mello would be having sex with fucking Yagami.

  


#### Part V

Light didn't have to check the time to know that it was ten minutes to seven in the morning. Ever since he came to the USA, he woke at that exact time. That was nothing unusual for him, but a hand loosely around his waist and a leg on hip was. He opened his eyes with a start, all of a sudden on alert, until he saw Mello's sleeping face next to his. He looked so peaceful, so innocent, so unlike everything he witnessed in the last twenty four hours.

Oh yes. Quite a day it had been.

Yet, it was nothing comparing it to the night.

For the first time in his life he kissed another of his gender. For the first time, he had sex with a man. With Mello. And he enjoyed it more than any other in his life. Nobody made him experience such fervor, such pleasure before. Sex with a woman was nothing like this, it was tame, it was dull, like women were, undeniably predictable. With Mello, it was a constant competition, a challenge, a battle for dominance. In which, objectively, he had lost, for he had no previous experience in that field. Yes, he had Mello's cock in his mouth, later his ass, but not for a moment had he given up trying to dominate the younger male.

Light doubted he would identify as straight from now on.

Because, yes, Mello's body was very male in fact, and that chest, those hips, those legs, that body he spent hours in exploring last evening, it drove Light crazy, which shouldn't be said for any heterosexual person. And this time around, he was sure he was confused about his sexual preference all his life, as sex was nothing worth mentioning before, but now it felt as a new world of possibilities was presented to him.

He trailed his hand down Mello's waist to his hip, and he took a hold of it, drawing idly circles wit his thumb across the skin. This made his eyelashes flutter, as his eyes opened to take in the sight of his companion. He smiled sleepily and reached out to caress Light's jaw.

"Good morning, princess," Mello whispered. It took a moment for Light to switch from Japanese in his mind, to English that was to escape his lips.

"Oh shut it, I'll throw you out."

"Aw, you won't let me accompany you to the airport?" Mello asked, dragging his foot across Yagami's calf slowly.

"I'm traveling with my colleagues, and I m quite sure they will find that me being accompanied by a random stranger is quite weird," Light replied, and as he was about to sit up and get out of bed, the blond rolled onto him, his bare chest on Light's, both only clad in briefs. Their noses were touching, and Mello's warm breath was on Light's lips and he could feel his erection pressing onto his lower stomach, only thin fabric separating them. He put his hands onto blond's lower black, desperately wanting to claw that skin in sheer frustration.

"Very random stranger," Mello whispered as he pressed their lips together, immediately opening his and pushing his tongue into the other's mouth, letting it dance around Light's, before tracing his upper teeth. Light gasped when two ice cold hands positioned themselves on either side of his rib cage and seductively trailed upwards. Before he could detach himself and utter his protests, Mello bucked against him, good god he could take no more.

"Enough, Mello, I need to go!" he pushed the blond from his chest, and sat on the edge of the bed. Little did he know that his companion would sit behind him and press his lips against that spot on his neck that he found yesterday was very sensitive.

"C'mon, we can have a quickie and then you can leave, right?" he murmured into his neck, before that sinful mouth was going lower and lower, and was kissing its way down his spine.

"I can't do it, I want to remember our encounter as those seven hours we spent talking, eating, and rolling around in sheets, not a quickie on morning after," that seemed appropriate excuse, but honestly, he wanted to draw it out, he wanted to have Mello again, and he doubted he could stop himself from doing just that.

Light stood up and opened his suitcase to find clothes he ought to wear, and pulled them out, a white, simple button-up shirt and trousers, before stuffing the clothes he wore to the presentation into it. It was funny, to think that less than twenty four hours ago, he was choosing that outfit, not really in the mood for it, and wanting only to get it over with and leave for Japan. Right now, he was hesitating a little bit, for the sake of prolonging his time with Mello, but, conversely, he wished to get away from him and sort out his mind.

Mello followed the suit and put on the leather pants that he found lying on the floor, and walked (shirtless, wow his back, his fucking back) to the door, where his shirt and vest were lying. Unbelievable, if Light could have found his clothes after his shower and stack them, so could have he. He then went to the bathroom, and the blond waited his turn to do so as well.

"Let's go, I need to check out, and you can technically walk me to taxi, as Matsuda and Aizawa left already," he called out as he opened the door and took out his luggage as he waited for the blond.

"Yeah, okay, but I really hoped we could have that romantic moment as you leave, promising you will come back for me," Mello sighed melodramatically, and exited the room, for the last time looking back, presumably to check if anything was left behind. They went downstairs, and Light checked out, before they were outside once again.

It was hotter than the day before, and Mello decided to take off his vest, and stay only in his basic black shirt, and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. Light wasn't that hot, though, he had chosen his clothes according to the weather forecast. Luckily, the taxi was to pick him up in front of hotel, so they only approached the street, and Light put down his baggage. As they stood in silence, he thought he could as well make some things clear.

"Sorry, it's just, I'll be damned if Matsuda and others find out I slept with a stranger, a male, at that."

"Oh god fuck you and your reputation," the blond hissed, and Light could only roll his eyes.

"It's not about my reputation, it's that they won't be so accepting, I believe they are homophobic," he pointed out, from the corner of his eye he saw Mello wince, obviously he didn't think about it in that way. No words were exchanged after that, before they could see the taxi approaching.

"I guess this it, then," Mello spoke solemnly, and their eyes met for the last time. Really, he had such beautiful eyes, so chillingly blue, yet yesterday they were aflame. And now, they were as cold and arrogant as the first time they met. His chin tilted up, like he was challenging him, but any other implications were wasted on Light's part.

"Perhaps," Light whispered as he turned away, when the taxi driver parked the car. He got into it, without the second glance to the blond, who undoubtedly turned away and went home, wanting nothing more than boast about his recent achievements to Jeevas. Only now, guilt and doubt made themselves comfortable in the pit of his stomach, making him physically sick. The taste on his tongue was bittersweet, as he was waking up after a dream better than a reality itself. He knew those moments would now only be a part of memories he'd recall for years to come, and he didn't feel bad about it.

Maybe they wouldn't meet ever again, but it was for the better. He didn't want to learn more about Mello. He'd lose that mysterious charm that had pulled Light in, and Light would be forced to see him as any of other disgusting human beings with their awful flaws and weaknesses.

He sighed, feeling the insides of his stomach turning, as he watched the busy streets of Los Angeles, the sounds of traffic no more than a background hum to him, as he waited for the light to turn green.

  


#### Epilogue

They did meet again three months later, after all, but not how either of them expected it to happen.

After arresting the Japanese gang that had supposedly wanted his head, Light was contacted by his former associative, Nate River, to help him on the case regarding Mafia in the USA. He had already planted his subordinate Gevanni as a spy two months prior, and successfully obtained the identity of the leader's right hand.

Mail Jeevas, also known as Matt.

Upon finding out Light Yagami had a contact with him, Nate asked him for help, and after exchanging information they had, pieces immediately fell into place.

Mafia was led by Mello, formerly known as Mihael Keehl.

Their eyes did meet once again three months later, after all, as Mello was being handcuffed. His eyes were nothing like Light remembered them, for they were full of rage and loathing, the wild glare directed as much at him as at the albino boy next to him, the private detective that was after him for the past nine months.

Little did Yagami know, Matt always fucked up, and that was something Mello learned to always take in account when planning.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! So, what do you think? How was it? Did it meet your tastes?
> 
> Have you noticed the whole fanfic was mirrored, save for the epilogue? Right, that's where the name came from. If you're looking for more fanfictions that feature Light as the more submissive one, as there was so little action in this one, check machi-pan's fanfics, she's a very good writer, and I'm quite sure you will like her too!
> 
> Thank you once again, sweeties, and please let me know what you thought of this, it doesn't take much time, but it means so much to me!


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